Indian Creek 3/18-28/05 - Jared, Johan
To prepare for this trip, besides cranking a few crack climbs in Yosemite
with Johan and Jared, I borrowed racks of cams from Evan, Hal, Jim, and Brian.
Two things I could not find in time were more swages for cam repair and proper
cam lubricant. So my visions of fixing several borrowed cams on the long drive
was not to be.
3/18. Starting at 2pm, after Jared's last final exam, we headed out in some rain
for the long drive (in Jared's Jeep Cherokee). I was rather late in getting ready,
having finally finished the master CD for TSP 5.0 and shipped it to some customers
in Japan so they could receive it before their fiscal year ended on March 31.
Even after I got my gear together, we had to circle back home from Willow Road after
I realized that I had forgotten my hiking boots....
After some heavy traffic on I-80 north of Berkeley due to some accidents,
we had some fast food and filled the gas tank in Reno before turning onto Highway 50,
which is a slightly shorter route to Moab than I-80 via Salt Lake City.
Jared drove most of the day, then Johan took a long stretch, and I took the final
leg, a bit past the border with Utah. We stopped at about 2am, drove well off the
highway on a semi-desert dirt road, and got some good sleep in our sleeping bags.
19. We got into Moab at around noon, where Jared filled up many water bottles at
the local climbing ship, while Johan and I bought some groceries.
We arrived at Supercrack buttress at around 2pm. We hiked to the base.
- Incredible Hand Crack 5.10c
Nobody was waiting to do it, and it is very popular, so we jumped right on it,
even though it's not exactly a warmup. Jared led it with no problems.
I had heard it had widened a little and the crack edges had been rounded from all
the traffic since the last time I was there (1991). This was indeed true.
The crux overhanging section was a lot smoother than I remembered, and it was hard
to push off my lower left foot to gain altitude. I managed to muscle up it with some
brute force shoulder strength, though. Johan was more stymied at the crux and
could not find a way to gain progress. So he just batmanned that part, and had
no troubles on the upper corner.
- Gorilla Crack 5.10b
This is a more sustained hand/wide hand crack with some wide spots on the
right wall of a corner. Jared led up, looking pretty smooth except at one long
section where he started to get pumped and had a brief hang. Right after he hung,
he found there was a resting jug just one move higher. I followed clean, and
Johan had a couple of hangs. Jared's parents arrived from Durango when he was
leading, so we called down to them and they hiked up to enjoy the spectacle.
- Pringles 5.11/5.11+/5.12c (toprope attempts)
This is the main corner just left of Gorilla Crack, toproped from the same anchors.
The rating depends on which guidebook you look at, and whether or not you stem
over to Gorilla Crack when the corner crack peters out. Jared went first,
liebacking the long lower corner quite smoothly except for two times when his
feet skated. He had freed right to the crux, where the crack becomes a seam,
and he was working some crimp holds on the left wall when he came off and had
a brief hang. He found better holds and climbed through to the top.
Johan went second, and climbed close to the crux with a couple of foot skates
and brief hangs. He used his feet to stem over to Gorilla Crack (the noncontrived
method). When it was my turn, I didn't have much confidence that my feet
would skate less than Jared or Johan. I was a little concerned about injuring
my left shoulder, which had been feeling a little weird and vulnerable.
So I liebacked for a ways, and then when it started getting harder,
I traversed (low) over to Gorilla Crack and climbed that again.
It was getting late, so we headed out to Lockhart Canyon to set up camp.
This is a bit beyond the standard climber campgrounds like below Bridger Jack,
but it has the advantage of being down below a small rim which offers some
protection from the wind. It's popular with dirt bikers. Jared's mom
brought lots of food and a Coleman stove, and we slept in 3 tents that night,
with a bit of light rain.
20. Rainy/cold, hiked in Canyonlands NP with Jared's parents.
Met Marshall and Polly in parking lot, purely by luck.
21. Generic Crack, Battle of the Bulge, Black Corner, etc.
I carried 6 #2.5s up Generic Crack as per the guidebook description
but I soon realized it was really #3 so I only placed one of them!
22. Wavy Gravy, Mantle Illness, Scarface. I got humbled trying to lead
Scarface when I wasn't able to use my feet very well and found out I
can't do pullups all that way without resting occasionally....
23. rain/snow. Rest day at Mesa Verde and Jared's in Durango, Johan flew home.
24. mixed forecast, but drove back to Canyonlands and drove in to Moses.
25. Rain/cold, so we hiked up to Moses but didn't climb. Snow that
evening.
26. A couple of routes at Wall Street and a hike in Arches with Jared's
mom and sister.
27. Castleton Tower. That slippery calcite is not what I expected for
a sandstone tower! Drove to Nevada.
28. Finished driving home.